Screw with People Who Steal your WiFi

My neighbors are stealing my wireless internet access. I could encrypt it or alternately I could have fun. With a few snippets of code here, a little copy and pasting there…and you can invert their browser, make the page blurry, and more.

Step 1: Split the Network – I’m starting here by splitting the network into two parts, the trusted half and the untrusted half. The trusted half has one netblock, the untrusted a different netblock. We use the DHCP server to identify mac addresses to give out the relevant addresses. I could definately have some fun with this…just think of the possibilities… Read more.

whilst this is hilarious, and very clever, they are technically not stealing unless they actually hack your wireless.

They’ve tried to connect to your router, on their behalf their computer has gone “hi, can I have permission to use your wifi” to your router, then, on your behalf your router has said “ok then, you have permission” and allowed them to connect to it. Unless you set the router to default deny access then you are granting permission for anyone to connect.

C

January 12th, 2009

Actually, if you’re in the US, stealing wireless internet is a crime. While I do not agree with most of the punishment people get, it is still considered a crime. It is a crime of theft. You are stealing a service someone else has paid for.

I think going ahead and screwing with them in this manner is much more rewarding than bringing the whole legal system to a halt because some lazy and cheap person can’t call their local service provider. And hey, they made xkcd’s website by doing it, that’s very awesome!

I

February 17th, 2009

Look at it this way: if you leave a door unlocked in your house and someone climbs in and steals something (or, to be a more accurate analogy, makes themselves at home, eats your food, etc.) they have still illegally gained entry to your house. The fact that a window was unlocked is not an open invitation for anyone to walk in and make themselves at home.

me

April 8th, 2009

I think “omg” has it right. The router on your behalf is saying come on in, if you cant be bothered to setup some kind of security, WEP, WPA even MAC filtering or run your start up CD like every single package tells you to before you even turn your router on, or call tech support to get them to walk you through the steps then its your own fault. Many people have given the climbing in an open window analogy to try and show it as a crime but this is not even like that at all. The signal is being sent out into public property or someone’s property so they dont have to do any trespassing to access it. This is more like watching your neighbors television through their open window. Internet waves are no different from any othe media waves so by the government’s logic, listening to the radio coming from someone’s car is a crime because I did not ask their permission to listen to the service they paid for, I was cheap and bought a car without a radio.

Dave

April 18th, 2009

I don’t think it is at all like someone walking into your house and using /eating your stuff. That wireless hardware is BROADCASTING the information INTO the neighbor’s house. The analogy is more like, you are throwing your food and stuff into the neighbor’s house, and he/she is going ahead and using what you have put into their space without asking permission. As litigious as the US is, I’m waiting for someone to sue their neighbor for broadcasting into/onto their property; some nut, maybe, who things that the waves are potentially dangerous.

Dave 2

April 23rd, 2009

I agree with the above dave.. IT is like they’re throwing their food at your house.. but I’d put it more like they’re blaring music and you’re listening to it. Or if you want to go even more specific lets say they’re broadcasting music over their own radio waves and you have pulled a radio out and are tuning into it.

John

April 23rd, 2009

Just so you know if someone accesses your wireless network you are legally responsible for what they do on it, it is also illegal to gain access to a network without the users express permission.

I’d rather block their access and not risk them going on illegal sites when they realise you are screwing with them.
It may seem funny but you are liable for what goes on throughout any network you run.

sketch

April 24th, 2009

you people who claim it’s not stealing are morons lol…either way you look at it, it’s stealing. If you take bread from a dumpster at wal-mart, even though its trash you can be prosecuted for stealing. If a Brinks truck dropped a bag off the back of their truck and it rolled to a stop, after crashing through your front door, its still stealing if you keep the money. Just because you have access to something doesn’t make it ok to use.

If you do not pay for a “product”, that is not free, and you have not been given explicit permission to use it, you are stealing. Regardless of the “product” involved.

rjs

May 2nd, 2009

First off, secure your wireless router if you are concerned about someone stealing internet. That being said, just because my wireless router (the doorman) lets you have access to the wireless signal (the building), does not give you the right to use the internet service (the pool) that I pay for. In the real world you’d get kicked out or arrested and the doorman would get fired. Access to the openly available wireless signal is totally separate from the internet access that resides on the router.

r4y

May 3rd, 2009

@sketch

actually taking bread (or anything for that matter) that you find in a dumpster is completely legal provided it is not locked or on private property and it is trespassing, not theft if you violate either of those conditions

according to the supreme court that is

since when….

May 12th, 2009

Since when is listen to certain frequencies a sin or a crime. If a build an antenna that can channel in on frequencies 8.2ghz to 12.1ghz, will I be arrested? No, because as long as they are open frequencies with no encryption there is no crime. If I break through that encryption then there is a crime. However, When one purchase a router there a purchasing a radio. Their router broadcast their ssid( or name) into the air, like real radio stations go figure. I am allowed to listen( meaning watch or see) with my adapter, but if I do not have permission to connect to that broadcast(like fire or police radio stations) it is crime for me to access that channel with out permission. The only permission one has is to look. Making connection is unauthorized unless, I have consent from the owner. It’s like a very attractive redhead with green eyes, you can look but don’t touch without permission.

Disabled

July 24th, 2009

I name my netword “Disabled” and have a password that seems to keep most network kiddies out. Not sophisticated, but most people who look at it say “Oh…disabled”, and go on to something else

Illegal!!!

August 8th, 2009

In the state of Connecticut if you have a password set or not IT IS illegal. The crime is called, “unauthorized access to a computer network.” You ARE stealing a service someone has paid for and not given you permission to be on. Perfect example…You have a cordless phone broadcasting on 813mhz your neighbor has the exact same phone on the same 813mhz. He has no phone line plugged in picks up his phone and gets a dial tone on your line and starts making phone calls. Yes, you are broadcasting the signal but that does not give people an open invitation to use it!! I’m not saying you shouldn’t secure your network cause you should! And if you are a piggybacking from your neighbor, it’s just silly! My neighbor asked me if he could piggyback and I gave him the password to get on the network. With the bandwidth of broadband in residential homes these days being so great you’ll hardly notice one extra PC on it.

If someone is using your WiFi
PUT AN ENCRYPTION ON YOUR ROUTER
and or screw with them using this method

If they Persist
Then maybe you should take it further but dont be an ass and skip the first step
how many people do you know (including yourself) that has snagged a nearby WiFi signal to do school work, check email, or any other low bandwidth task. How pissed would you be if you got caught stealing internet while you were using it to set up your own internet connection

If YOUR using your neighbors internet
be considerate of your provider (neighbor)
dont suck up all the bandwidth
dont hack theyer computers
dont put them in an awkward legal situation

jake

January 31st, 2010

“just because my wireless router (the doorman) lets you have access to the wireless signal (the building), does not give you the right to use the internet service (the pool) that I pay for. In the real world youâ€™d get kicked out or arrested and the doorman would get fired.”

Well, you are the one that programed your doorman to grant access to anyone. You can’t fire your doorman for doing his job, that’s illegal. You can kick me out all you want (its your property) but you cannot have me arrested because I had permission to use your pool. The doorman, who works and takes orders from you, allowed me to use your pool. Maybe you should tell your doorman to not advertise/broadcast your free pool (SSID) and to stop granting access to just anyone.

Ugh

February 1st, 2010

“Actually, if youâ€™re in the US, stealing wireless internet is a crime. While I do not agree with most of the punishment people get, it is still considered a crime. It is a crime of theft. You are stealing a service someone else has paid for.”

How can it possibly be considered theft if you’ve explicitly granted them access? Idiot. If you don’t want people accessing your Wi-Fi, don’t configure your router to give them access!

And no, there is no law against “stealing wireless internet”. There are laws against “unauthorized access of a computer network”. But in New York, for instance, it states that the network must be “equipped or programmed with any device or coding system, a function of which is to prevent the unauthorized use of said computer or computer system”. So it’s only “unauthorized access” if you put a password on it and someone cracks the password. Accessing an open Wi-Fi network is not “unauthorized access”. It’s not wrong, not illegal, and hopefully never will be (though the RIAA is fighting to make it illegal, using pedophiles and “hackers” as bogeymen to scare people into making laws about it).

Good neighbors share their Wi-Fi.

john

April 28th, 2010

Good neighbors share their wifi? Spoken like a true leech. how about you leave your keys in your car so I can borrow it when i need to make a liquor run?

omg u suk

January 31st, 2011

OMG has a good point, but it is stealing. If someone leaves there shovel in their front yard, it’s stealing if you take it. People with little or no knowledge of networking are the people who get attacked, especially when bandwidth costs money. These people are also the kind of people that get there accounts hacked, due to a limited password. You can take advantage of these people, but then YOU know you are doing wrong and if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime. Jail is tough!!!

Jason

May 25th, 2011

It is a felony to steal internet. Whether it is protected or not, it does not matter. Check your facts.